The Penrith Panthers have confirmed young gun outside back Thomas Jenkins will exit the club ahead of the 2024 season.
Off-contract at the end of the 2023 season, Jenkins has been linked with a switch to the Newcastle Knights in recent times, and that now appears more and more likely to happen with Penrith confirming his departure.
Jenkins made his NRL debut in Round 25 of the 2022 season when Penrith rested most of their best 17 for the final round game against the North Queensland Cowboys, but the talented youngster could only follow that up with five games this year.
Despite having the ability to play in the centres and on the wing, he was stuck behind an elite backline at the Panthers, and that wasn’t about to get any better with the club welcoming back Taylan May from injury, and signing Paul Alamoti.
Even with the loss of Stephen Crichton to the Canterbury Bulldogs, Jenkins still would have been down the pecking order at the foot of the mountains as Ivan Cleary’s side get set to chase a historic four-peat.
That may not be the case in the Hunter though.
The Knights have lost Dominic Young in a big-money move to the Sydney Roosters, so have a spot open on the wing, and it could be argued other spots in their backline will be up for grabs without a strong start to the season.
That leaves Jenkins with potentially far more opportunity at Newcastle than he otherwise would have had at the Panthers, provided a deal gets done.